IT is not the way things should be. Having worked hard all their lives and prudently saved, pensioners should be enjoying a quiet and comfortable retirement.

Instead, their savings are being taxed, their pension funds have been savaged by the credit crunch and their fixed income eroded by soaring fuel bills and food costs.

Proof, if more was needed, of how tough life has become for Britain’s pensioners is revealed in a shocking new survey which shows that a third of over-65s have been forced to ask their children for financial aid.

Instead of helping their youngsters on to the housing ladder, one in three UK pensioners is being forced into the humiliation of asking for a handout from their struggling sons and daughters.

Most of us may be enduring tough times but soaring living costs hit pensioners harder than any other group.

Politicians would be well advised to remember that before they start eyeing up the Winter Fuel.